Topps Tiles bucked the trend of poor sales over Christmas by reporting a 2.2pc
rise in like-for-like transactions over the festive period.

Barry Bester, non-executive chairman of the tile retailer, said: "We experienced some disruption during December from the extreme weather conditions and I feel the business has responded well during a testing period. Against this context I am particularly satisfied with the performance over the period as a whole."

In a note to clients, Goldman Sachs said that the sales - which covered the 13 weeks from October 2 - were in line with its forecasts.

Peel Hunt said that it "takes comfort" from the "robust" start to Topps Tiles' year.

The group is currently trading from a total of 312 stores and said that it plans to open 10 new stores in its current financial year.

Mr Bester said: "Our trading performance across the first 13 weeks of the financial year has been positive, with total revenues increasing by 1.8pc."